On Saturday’s show, I had a full-house at the Kilderkin for the first time since the final Dirty Laundry in 2012.
There wasn’t enough room for everyone to fit in, with people crammed in at the back. Although it was very satisfying, it made doing the quiz much more difficult due to my limited resources in terms of whiteboards and pens.
A couple of punchlines fell flat, but it was a really enjoyable gig and the audience got more involved as the show progressed.
I am having a lot of fun playing the mock-hardline quizmaster and deducting points from people when they say something I disagree with. I am also enjoying playing around with a service bell that I ding at various points during the show when I say a fact, or any time I feel like doing so.
From Saturday’s show, I made a total of £63 in the collection at the end, which is my record so far for gig takings this year. It still seems strange not to split the bucket with anyone, but I am getting used to it being mine. All mine.
On Sunday, I did a spot at Nigel Lovell’s Worst Show on the Fringe. This is an exclusive show for only performers who have had one-star reviews to perform at. Thanks go to James Hampson from ThreeWeeks for qualifying me for this in 2011. Nigel did a great job of warming up the crowd and packing the room with about 70 people, which included the infamous comedy critic Kate Copstick.
A year or two ago, knowing that I had someone reviewing the show I was doing, particularly such an established scribe, would have knocked me off my game. But I have now reached a point where I don’t let that affect me. Obviously I would like people to say nice things about me that I can use to promote my act, but I have learnt to not let criticism get to me. If you perform in public, people will say things about you and people can say what they want about me.
I ended up having a gig I was pretty pleased with and even saw Copstick laughing quite hard at my giant squid material. I don’t yet know what she has written about me, or even if she will write anything about me at all. But there would be a certain irony in doing a show only because I got a one-star review and then getting a decent quote from a respected comedy critic out of it. Time will tell and there is always a chance I’ll get a mauling. Either way, it feels really good to be performing comedy at the moment.